Our story

Hi, My name is Marie Clara, the founder and creative director of Bagore Atelier, in Cape Elisabeth, Maine. Growing up in Rwanda, my grandmother Deborah, my mother Specioza, and her four sisters transformed every family holiday into a runway. They spent hours sewing and embroidering linen dresses, and hand-looping crochet sweaters and bags for us and our neighbors. My mother’s dedication ran so deep that as a teenager, she walked miles on foot just to attend design school. She eventually paused her creative dreams to raise six children, but her passion never died. I will never forget the day in 2007 when my father bought her a singer sewing machine. She wept like a child, finally holding the tool that would allow her to create again.